The invention relates to a method for mounting a valve train of an internal combustion engine and to a valve train of an internal combustion engine, wherein this valve train is provided with at least one row of cam followers of which each is supported on one side on a bottom side on an end by means of a pivot support relative to a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine and acts on the other end on at least one gas exchange valve and, on the other side, has at least in the middle section a cut-out in which a roller running on a pin sits, wherein this pin is supported in mounts of side surfaces of the cut-out, wherein a camshaft runs parallel to the row of cam followers, wherein this camshaft has, for each cam follower, a cam or a sliding cam package acting on its roller and this camshaft is supported by means of an axial bearing relative to the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine.
A valve train according to the class is known from the technical book “Valve train systems for internal combustion engines,” (2003) Verlag Moderne Industrie, ISBN 3-478-93293-9, p. 25. Shown are an intake and exhaust row of cam followers that are supported so that they can pivot on hydraulic support elements. For each cylinder of the internal combustion engine there are two identically acting gas exchange valves (4-valve technology). Each gas exchange valve is loaded by a cam follower. A camshaft with a cam for each cam follower is arranged above a row of cam followers. The run-on of the corresponding cam on the cam follower is realized by a roller that sits on a pin mounted in mounts of side walls of the cam follower.
Due to tolerances that cannot be avoided in the production of the mounts for the respective pins in the side walls of the corresponding cam follower, the roller supported on top, seen in top view of the cam follower, has an offset with respect to the longitudinal extent of the cam follower and thus an offset with respect to the opposing cam. The roller consequently deviates, stated simply, from the desired perpendicular orientation. The deviations vary in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions (+/−) and ultimately cannot be avoided without extreme costs in terms of production and quality assurance.
For the use of a row of cam followers in the internal combustion engine, in the worst case, a predominant number of mounts can have an offset in only one direction. During operation, due to the addition of the transverse forces (axial thrust) caused by the contact on the camshaft, this tolerance situation can lead to an axial displacement of the camshaft such that its axial bearing contacts one end due to the application of this transverse force. This causes increased friction, wear, and noises in this area.